


Ghost Ship

by RockyMountainGirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 18:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5385203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockyMountainGirl/pseuds/RockyMountainGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry, trying to be strong for his mother’s sake, finally lets himself break down over Hook’s death. Short one-shot. Captain Cobra Angst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghost Ship

Henry left his grandparents’ loft without a word, with his mother still sobbing violently into Mary Margaret’s shoulder. He just couldn’t watch it anymore.

Regina had told the others that she would go to Marco to ask about a casket and handle the other funeral arrangements. That was just like her, doing the hard things so that Emma wouldn’t have to.

Robin had gone to the fairies to check in on baby Neal and the still unnamed baby Hood.

And his other grandfather, Mr. Gold, had disappeared shortly after it had all gone down. Henry figured he was at his shop, but decided that he probably wouldn’t be the best person to turn to, given that he most likely wasn’t too broken up about Hook’s passing… given their history.

So Henry ended up wandering the town alone, with no idea of where he was going or where to turn, but only knowing that he had to get away. He let his feet guide themselves while his mind wandered. It wasn’t until he reached the docks that he realized where he had been going all along.

The _Jolly Roger_ was still there, waiting as ever, for a captain that would never return to her.

Henry paused and looked at the ship as memories flooded his mind. Memories of going sailing with Hook for the first time, back before he had regained his memories, when Killian was only a strange man in strange clothes who could never seem to tear his eyes away from his mother when they were together. Memories of being taught how to tie knots and read stars as Killian told him stories about his father. And later memories of the three of them all going out into the bay for lunch and Killian letting Henry take the helm. He had even dug up an old hat and placed it on Henry’s head. “Now you’re a true sailor”, he’d said.

Henry walked slowly up the gangplank and stepped on board. Looking around, it felt as if that ship was as full of ghosts as any graveyard.

He could feel the hot tears beginning to rise in his eyes and his throat tightening, but it wasn’t until he looked out to the sea that the dams broke and he let the tears fall. Waves of grief washed over him and his body racked with sobs as if he was thrown against rocks by the storm raging inside him.

He had tried to keep it all in, for Emma. To be strong. He didn’t want her to have to worry about him when she had just lost so much.

But it _hurt_. Henry was surprised by how much it hurt, now that he finally let himself feel it. And he realized how much he had just lost too.

Henry wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened, but at some point Killian had become more than just his mother’s boyfriend…. he had become a father too. Because that was exactly what this pain felt like. It was like losing his father all over again.

Henry walked over to the rail, running his hands over the polished wood. The sound of his tears gently falling into the water below mixed with the lapping of the waves to make a wistful song. _The sea itself is mourning him too_ , Henry thought. It seemed fitting.

\---//---

Henry lost track of how much time he had spent on that ship. In the cabin, he had found one of Killian’s flasks of rum and, remembering stories of how pirates would often send off their fallen, had taken it with him to the deck. He poured some into the sea and then took a swig himself. It burned going down and tasted awful (and he knew his mothers wouldn’t approve), but somehow it made him feel better.

It wasn’t until the sun began to rise that Henry decided that it was time to go back. Even with everything going on, he would be missed soon. Before he disembarked, he looked back one last time. As he did, a ray of light reflected off the water and in that moment he thought he saw him there…. Captain Jones at the helm of his ship, smiling and waving farewell….and then he was gone.


End file.
